Telephone-booth door.



R. A. RUTHERF'ORD.

TELEPHONE BOOTH DOOR.

APPLICATiON FILED OCT. I. 19|2.

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BICI-IARD A. RUTHERFORID, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

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Specication of Letters Patent.

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L.Application filed October 1, 1912. Serial No. 723,273.

To all whom/.t may concern? Be it known that I, RICHARD A. RUTHER- rom), a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the borough of Brooklyn, county of Kings, city and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Telephone-Booth Doors, of. which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification.

My invention relates to doors and their associated partsl and has for its objects the provision of'a door construction which shall be capable of general application in building construction, be easy to operate in closing and opening, form a practically tight and sound-proof closure of the door opening when in closed position, and offer a minimum obstruction during the opening or closing or in open position to free ingress or egress throughthe door opening. Other objects will be pointed out or will otherwise ap ear inthe following description of the embodiment of my invention which is shown in the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 shows in front elevation a telephone booth, equipped with the door construction of my invention,

Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the line 2 2 of F ig.l 4, the door being in open position Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1 and Fig. 4 is a horizontal section on the line 4 4 of Fig. 2.

ln the drawings l have shown my inven* tion as applied to a telephone booth. It will be understood, however, that the invention may be used in connection with rooms or chambers in general and that the particular application shown is for illustrative purposes merely.

The chamber shown in the drawings comprises side walls 1, in one of which is a passagewayv or. opening capable of being closed by the door 2, a ceiling or top wall 3 and a floor or bottom wall 4. If desired, an outer top wall 3 and a lower bottom wall 4 may be provided.

rlhe door 2 is formed with a cylindrical outer surface and is supported pivotally at one or more points which are located slightly eccentrically to the axis of generation of such surface. The pivotal. points illustrated are in the form of combination radial and thrust bearings, 5 and 5 which are secured to and supported by the upper and lower walls of the chamber respectively. As illustrated, the bearing 5 is secured between the walls 3 and 3 while the bearing 5 is secured between the walls 4 and 4. Pivoted on and supported by the bearing 5 is an arm 6, which extends therefrom toward the door and theouter end 7 of which depends through an arcuate slot 8 in the wall 3 and is secured below said wall 3 to the upper portion of the door in substantially the longitudinal center thereof. The arm 6 serves to support the door which is suspended therefrom. The slot 8 is of suflcient width so that the depending end 7 of the arm may have easy movement therein and, extending in the form of an arc, the center of which is the axis of the bearing 5, is of sufficient length so that the door can be moved from open to clos-ed position.

The arm 6 may be extended beyond the bearing 5 and be provided with a counterbalance weight 9.

To assist in supporting and guiding the door an arm 6 provided, if desired, with a counterbalance weight 9 may be supported on the bearing 5 between the walls 4 and 4 and have an end portion 7 project upwardly through a slot 8 in the wall 4, said end portion being secured to the central, lower portion of the door 2, these arts being arranged similarly to the a ove described parts at the upper part of the door.

At each side of the door opening, a door frame, suitable for a cylindrical door is provided. As shown, this frame comprises uprights 10 which with the side walls 1 form a hollow post at each side of the door, said posts extending inwardly suiiciently to Contact with the outer surface of the door near the ends thereof when the door is closed. The central portion of the door in consequence of the curvature thereof extends outwardly'substantially even with -the outer wall of the chamber. The post at the forward end of the door is provided `with 'a j amb 11 against which the forward edge of the door rests when in closed position. The rear post 10 `contacts with the closed door at the point 12. The forward portion of the door is provided with suitable handles 13 and 14, the former being on the outer side of the door and the latter being on the inner side thereof. The outer surface of the door may, if desired, be provided with proc forma close fit with the forward post at thel point 16.

rlhe projecting portions 15, l5 are not essential however to prevent scraping of the door against the portion 12 of therear post l() during the opening and closing of the door because ofthe eccentric location of the pivotal points 5 and 5.v It will be readily Aunderstood that, lthese points being in an axis which is displaced slightly from the axis of generation of the cylindrical surface ofthe door in a direction `generally toward the jamb 11, the path of movement of the door will be such `as to draw it away from i the rear,I post 10 in opening and to advance it toward said post in closing, the rearward and forward portions of the door finally coming intoV Contact with said rear post and Y the forward post respectively, when the door has Vreached its closed position. The path of movement of the door is clearly indicated by 'Figs 8 and l1 of the drawings which show the closed position andthe open position p thereof respectively.

When it is desired to open the door either of the handles 13 and 14; isgrasped and the door is moved about its pivotal axis from the closed position of Fig; 3 toward the open position shown dotted in Fig. 4. The opposite movement of thedoor is accomplished in Y a like manner. The portion 12 vof the side post 10 does not frictionally retard the movef f proof t.

ment and yet when closed the door will rest,

against said portion with a close and soundyThe entrance or exit of a person through the door opening will, as is obvious, be in Ano wise hindered or 'obstructed by the door in its movement from one position to the other. Furthermore when open the door is stored'in a part of the chamber adjacent to one side wall thereof and so constitutes no appreciableV obstruction in the chamber. The door is balanced by thecounterweights 9 and 9 so that the operation thereof requires but slight effort. Suitable resilient bumpers may be supplied where convenient to prevent undue'noise and shock, and the other accessories common in the art may be provided if desired.

I claim 1. A booth comprising rectangular side, upper and lower walls, one of rsaid side-walls being provided with a passageway, a door having a curved outer surface for closing said passageway, means for moving said door sidewise about an axis eccentric to its axis of generation and a j amb to limit movement of the door in one direction.

2. A booth of rectangular section having side and end walls and provided with a passageway on one side, a curved door for closing said passageway, an arm rigidly attached to the door and pivotally mounted to swing about an axis parallel to the axis of generation of the door the outer surface of the door at its lateral edges being equidistant from the pivotal axis and the distance between said axis and other points of said outer surface being less than at said edges, a sideof the passageway being adapted to be tightly abutted by the rear edge of the door when said door is closed and by the forward edge when the door is open.

8. A booth of rectangular section having side and end walls and provided with a passageway on one side, a curved door for closing said passageway, an arm rigidly attached to the door and pivotally mounted to swing about an axis parallel to the axis of generation of the door the distance-from the pivotal axis to the outer surface at the rear edge of the door being greater than the distance from said axis to all other points in said outer surface lying between the rear and forward edges, a side of the passageway being adapted to be tightly abutted by the rear edge of the door when said door is closed.

4. In combination, a rectangular sectioned chamber comprising side, upper and lower walls, one of the side walls thereof being provided with a passageway and the upper and lower walls being provided with arcuate slots, a door having a cylindrical surface, and pivotally mounted arms located above and below said upper and lower walls respectively, the pivotal points thereof being in an axis slightly eccentric to the axis of generation of the cylindrical surface of said door, said arms being provided with portions which project through said slots and are rigidly secured to said door, whereby said door is supported by said arms to move in a path about said pivotal axis for closing and opening said passageway.

5. In combination, a rectangular sectioned booth comprising side, upper and lower walls, one of said side walls thereof being provided with a passageway, and said upper wall being provided with an arcuate slot,

c inwardly extending posts at the sides of said passageway, a door having a cylindrical surface, and a pivotally mounted arm located above said upper wall, the pivotal point thereof being slightly eccentric to the axis of generation of the cylindrical surface of said door, said arm being provided with a portion which projects through said slot and is In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set rigidly secured to said door, whereby said my hand in the presence of two subscribing door is supported by said arm to move in a Witnesses.

path about said pivotal point to and from a RICHARD A. RUTHERFORD. 5 position in Which the door is free from con- Witnesses:

tact With said. posts and a position in which JOHN A. FERGUSON,

the door is in Close Contact with said posts. JOHN A. KEHLENBECK.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

